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Lyons: Flood of county errors left water pouring for days

Published: Monday, September 9, 2013 at 5:32 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, September 9, 2013 at 5:32 p.m.

There had to be a rational explanation for such bad service, I figured.

It just didn't make sense that a Sarasota County water customer had to write to a county commissioner to get a flowing water leak fixed when it was so visible and right next to his water meter in the front yard.

But that is finally what Don Hughes did.

“Out of frustration I am writing to you after 4 or 5 days of trying to get the Sarasota County Utilities to respond to the broken water meter pouring water into the street at my home” in Gulf Gate, Hughes wrote to Commissioner Nora Patterson.

“Thousands of gallons have been lost since I reported this problem” four days previous, he said.

Using the weekend emergency number that Saturday afternoon, Hughes had talked to an operator and then a service technician, who said he would be there within the hour.

“One and one half hours later I repeated my call,” and an operator said the man would be there soon.

Never happened.

“On Sunday about 2 pm I repeated the calls. No one responded,” he wrote, and “water continued to pour out.”

This was a week or so ago, during our present monsoon season, so his yard was already soggy. And the leak continued on Monday, which was Labor Day.

“Tuesday morning, this morning,” he wrote to Patterson the next day, “I called the Utility Office shortly after 9 am and reported the whole problem and explained that the water was still pouring out!”

Despite another firm promise, no technician came as far as Hughes knew.

“Water is still pouring out of the meter location entering my yard! It is 7 pm Tuesday evening! WHO WILL PAY THIS BILL?” he wrote to Patterson.

The county will.

Patterson passed this complaint to staff with a suggestion that it deserved attention. Next day, the repair happened promptly, and so did the rational explanation I was hoping for. Not that it is so great.

David Cash, the interim utilities director, says a technician did hurry right out on Saturday after that first call. He talked with two men at the location, but could see no problem aside from standing rain water, and all there agreed the problem was just too much rain.

That is because the tech was at the wrong address. He had wrongly assumed a man standing there was the caller or his son.

On Tuesday, a whole crew went out. And, they got the first part right. That is, they went to the right address.

But by then, more rain and the leak had combined to make such a puddle that the meter box and nearby leak were so underwater that the water bubbling out could not be easily seen.

The techs looked around but, despite having been told the leak was right by the meter, they eventually concluded the homeowner must have been mistaken. Must just be rain, they decided.

And acting utilities director Cash says that wasn't the end of their mistake. The techs did not leave a door hangar or call the customer back.

Hughes says he is amazed that an entire crew — he was told it was four people — were unable to find that leak, as was explained in an apology note from Cash.

“I would be ashamed to have written that letter,” Hughes said. “It was flowing like a little fountain,” and in the exact spot he had described.

Cash is embarrassed.

“It shouldn't have happened,” Cash told me, and he especially means the failure on Tuesday to call the customer before or after the crew gave up.

Hughes, who could have told them right where to look, is a real estate agent who works at home. He says he was almost certainly right there the whole time and never heard their alleged knock. He still wonders how the heck they failed to find either him or the leak.

<p>There had to be a rational explanation for such bad service, I figured.</p><p>It just didn't make sense that a Sarasota County water customer had to write to a county commissioner to get a flowing water leak fixed when it was so visible and right next to his water meter in the front yard.</p><p>But that is finally what Don Hughes did.</p><p>“Out of frustration I am writing to you after 4 or 5 days of trying to get the Sarasota County Utilities to respond to the broken water meter pouring water into the street at my home” in Gulf Gate, Hughes wrote to Commissioner Nora Patterson.</p><p>“Thousands of gallons have been lost since I reported this problem” four days previous, he said.</p><p>Using the weekend emergency number that Saturday afternoon, Hughes had talked to an operator and then a service technician, who said he would be there within the hour.</p><p>“One and one half hours later I repeated my call,” and an operator said the man would be there soon.</p><p>Never happened.</p><p>“On Sunday about 2 pm I repeated the calls. No one responded,” he wrote, and “water continued to pour out.”</p><p>This was a week or so ago, during our present monsoon season, so his yard was already soggy. And the leak continued on Monday, which was Labor Day.</p><p>“Tuesday morning, this morning,” he wrote to Patterson the next day, “I called the Utility Office shortly after 9 am and reported the whole problem and explained that the water was still pouring out!”</p><p>Despite another firm promise, no technician came as far as Hughes knew.</p><p>“Water is still pouring out of the meter location entering my yard! It is 7 pm Tuesday evening! WHO WILL PAY THIS BILL?” he wrote to Patterson.</p><p>The county will.</p><p>Patterson passed this complaint to staff with a suggestion that it deserved attention. Next day, the repair happened promptly, and so did the rational explanation I was hoping for. Not that it is so great.</p><p>David Cash, the interim utilities director, says a technician did hurry right out on Saturday after that first call. He talked with two men at the location, but could see no problem aside from standing rain water, and all there agreed the problem was just too much rain.</p><p>That is because the tech was at the wrong address. He had wrongly assumed a man standing there was the caller or his son.</p><p>On Tuesday, a whole crew went out. And, they got the first part right. That is, they went to the right address.</p><p>But by then, more rain and the leak had combined to make such a puddle that the meter box and nearby leak were so underwater that the water bubbling out could not be easily seen.</p><p>The techs looked around but, despite having been told the leak was right by the meter, they eventually concluded the homeowner must have been mistaken. Must just be rain, they decided.</p><p>And acting utilities director Cash says that wasn't the end of their mistake. The techs did not leave a door hangar or call the customer back.</p><p>Hughes says he is amazed that an entire crew — he was told it was four people — were unable to find that leak, as was explained in an apology note from Cash.</p><p>“I would be ashamed to have written that letter,” Hughes said. “It was flowing like a little fountain,” and in the exact spot he had described. </p><p>Cash is embarrassed.</p><p>“It shouldn't have happened,” Cash told me, and he especially means the failure on Tuesday to call the customer before or after the crew gave up. </p><p>Hughes, who could have told them right where to look, is a real estate agent who works at home. He says he was almost certainly right there the whole time and never heard their alleged knock. He still wonders how the heck they failed to find either him or the leak.</p><p>However that worked, Cash admits the whole thing went really badly.</p><p>“We do a lot of them really well,” Cash said. Just not this time.</p><p><EL-7.8></p><p><EL-1><RA@BYLINERULE,0,4,0,0,0.5,50>Tom Lyons can be contacted at tom.lyons@heraldtribune.com<!----></p>